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Suicidal Tendencies
Suicidal Tendencies was a heavyweight robot that entered in Series 3, 4 and 5 of Robot Wars, along with the first series of Robot Wars Extreme. Known primarily for its tracked design, Suicidal Tendencies enjoyed a reasonable amount of success. The first version of Suicidal Tendencies reached the Heat Final of Series 3 and lost to Mace 2. The second version also reached the heat final of Series 4, losing controversially to Wheely Big Cheese. The third version placed runner-up in the Tag Team Terror competition in Extreme Series 1, and won its final battle in Series 5 before being forced to withdraw. As such, Suicidal Tendencies was one of the only robots to end its Robot Wars career with a victory. Versions of Suicidal Tendencies Suicidal Tendencies (Series 3) Suicidal Tendencies was a low, tracked robot capable of running inverted. It was constructed over 8 weeks with a spring steel top and using model train motors. It was armed with a milling cutter revolving at 1500rpm and the 120 individually-made links that make up the treads took three and a half weeks to build. It was highly appropriate that the robot had tank tracks as designer Andrew Jeffrey used to collect tanks and other such armoured vehicles in his garden. It was able to reach the Heat Final, ultimately losing on a Judges' Decision to Mace 2. Suicidal Tendencies (Series 4) This version of Suicidal Tendencies featured polycarbonate armour, a steam engine whistle that sounded when attacking (much like Roadblock's two-tone police siren in Series 2), and new weaponry in the form of a rapid-fire pickaxe and a pair of lifting spikes. This incarnation of the robot did well, reaching the Heat Final, coming fourth in the Northern Annihilator, and participating in two series of BattleBots, where it won the Best Newcomer Award. Suicidal Tendencies (Series 5, Extreme 1) In Extreme 1 and Series 5, it returned with a powerful crushing arm and front scoop. Described as "Sturdy, punishing and menacing" by Jonathan Pearce, it was armoured in titanium, could reach speeds of up to 10 mph, and according to the team, the claw could exert 26 tonnes of pressure. Despite having to retire due to mechanical problems after defeating Rick in Round 1 of Series 5, it did well in the Extreme 1 Tag Team Terror, where it teamed up with The Steel Avenger and finished as runner-up. For Series 6, the team worked on a new version of Suicidal Tendencies which had an improved crusher. However, this version was not completed, because the team ultimately lost interest. Suicidal Tendencies was retired afterwards. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSVw18lelTk Robot History Series 3 Suicidal Tendencies' first battle was against Forklift's Revenge. The two robots collided and both tried to push the other, to no avail. Forklift's Revenge's belts started spinning, but the flat, tracked Suicidal Tendencies was resistant to being caught by those weapons. Both robots turned away, but Suicidal Tendencies had a small turning circle, and launched an attack on the still spinning Forklift's Revenge, driving up the wedge and down again. Both robots spun away, but again the faster Suicidal Tendencies was able to position itself easier, running into the rear of Forklift's Revenge and jamming the chain belt. The robots pulled away, ramming together, and the wedges of Forklift's Revenge scraped one of the pieces of tape that marked the floor flipper away. Suicidal Tendencies attacked Forklift's Revenge's exposed side, pushing it up against a nearby flame pit. Forklift's Revenge escaped and moved back into the centre of the arena, but Suicidal Tendencies attacked again and pushed it into Sir Killalot. Sir Killalot dug his lance into the right chain of Forklift's Revenge, lifting it above his head. Spinning his lance, Forklift's Revenge flailed in mid-air and came to rest against Sir Killalot's shoulder. Sir Killalot then moved into the centre of the arena and spun around with Forklift's Revenge, before moving to the pit. Placing Forklift's Revenge in, Sir Killalot lowered his lance and pried his lance out from the chain, leaving Forklift's Revenge to fall into the pit. In the second round, Suicidal Tendencies fought Raizer Blade. Raizer Blade had a quick start and pushed Suicidal Tendencies around. Suicidal Tendencies drove up on Raizer Blade's side, then slammed into it and shoved it a few centimetres, before, suddenly, one of Suicidal Tendencies' tracks locked up. Raizer Blade pushed them towards the pit and tried to push it in. However, Raizer Blade accidentally drove itself onto the edge. Suicidal Tendencies managed to escape, before Sir Killalot, trying to nudge Raizer Blade in, brought it back to life. With Raizer Blade suddenly pitted and Suicidal Tendencies back in the arena, the Judges were required to clarify the outcome, and they determined that Suicidal Tendencies would progress. In the Heat Final, Suicidal Tendencies fought Mace 2, which had been a Semi-Finalist in the previous series. Suicidal Tendencies drove around Mace 2 and then Mace 2 flipped it over. Suicidal Tendencies tried to use its milling cutters, but they had no effect whatsoever and could only piggy back up on Mace 2. Mace 2 pushed Suicidal Tendencies into Sergeant Bash, Shunt, Matilda and Sir Killalot, but escaped every time. It then piggy-backed up on Mace 2 again and were pushed into the CPZ where Shunt buried its axe into Suicidal Tendencies. Eventually, the fight went to the judges, who voted in favour of Mace 2. Series 4 Suicidal Tendencies was given the last minute seeding after Blade's Big Bruva dropped out. In its first round melee, it faced Series 2 Grand Finalist Killertron and newcomer Maverick. Maverick drove straight into Killertron, narrowly missing an axe blow, before Suicidal Tendencies pushed Killertron and axed it. Maverick then drove at Killertron and forced it back, until Suicidal Tendencies 2 took over and flicked away at Killertron with its axe. Suicidal Tendencies then attacked Maverick and carried it towards Matilda. Matilda brought her chainsaw into play, but caused little trouble for Maverick. Killertron swung its axe into Suicidal Tendencies, who continued to attack Maverick and carried it around again. Killertron axed Maverick, before being lifted by Suicidal Tendencies's forks. All three robots were locked together, with Refbot coming in to break it up. Killertron flailed away with its axe as Suicidal Tendencies got underneath Maverick once more and eventually toppled it over. The House Robots came in to attack Maverick, and cease was called. Suicidal Tendencies had an easy win in Round 2 against Wheelosaurus. Suicidal Tendencies rammed Wheelosaurus immediately, and Wheelosaurus looked to have stopped moving. They attacked them with the axe, breaking one of the spikes and puncturing their armour, which caused them to spill petrol around the arena. Finally, Suicidal Tendencies pushed Peter Gibson's machine onto the flame pit, where it burned before being deemed immobile. Suicidal Tendencies was through to the Heat Final again, this time against Wheely Big Cheese. Before this fight, Wheely Big Cheese had suffered gearbox problems. Suicidal Tendencies went on the attack immediately, using its axe and lifting Wheely Big Cheese, before pushing it into Dead Metal. Wheely Big Cheese escaped, but Suicidal Tendencies continued to attack, holding Wheely Big Cheese by one of its wheels before getting underneath Wheely Big Cheese's front and flicking it up. Unable to get under Suicidal Tendencies's low ground clearance, Wheely Big Cheese decided to reverse into Suicidal Tendencies, but got hooked by a wheel again. Wheely Big Cheese wriggled free and Suicidal Tendencies's left track then locked up, which left it floundering by the pit, going round in circles. The pit opened, and Wheely Big Cheese tried to force Suicidal Tendencies down, but on two occasions nearly went in itself. Wheely Big Cheese tried one more time to finish Suicidal Tendencies off, but this time went into the pit, while Suicidal Tendencies still turned in circles on the arena floor. The Suicidal Tendencies team thought they had won, but the judges took the controversial view that Suicidal Tendencies had been immobilised, eliminating it from the competition to the disgust of the team. Suicidal Tendencies also competed in the Northern Annihilator, against reigning champions Chaos 2, Dominator 2, Killerhurtz, Stinger and Spikasaurus. As Round 1 started, all of the robots drove towards the top left side of the arena, where Killerhurtz axed Spikasaurus, and Dominator 2 managed to use its axe to clamp down on Chaos 2, but was flipped over by Suicidal Tendencies, who overturned itself in the process after rolling over Dominator 2. It let go and the other four robots gave chase. Chaos 2 missed a flip on Suicidal Tendencies, who in turn pushed back Stinger and Spikasaurus. Chaos 2 then charged the length of the arena and slammed into the side of Suicidal Tendencies, but again failed to flip it. Suicidal Tendencies avoided the main action for a while, until Chaos 2 flipped Suicidal Tendencies over. Chaos 2 then went after the others, flipping Killerhurtz over and pushing them into a CPZ. The remaining four robots were engaged in their own duel near the other side of the arena, with Spikasaurus having impaled itself in the sides of Suicidal Tendencies. Sgt Bash managed to grip hold of Suicidal Tendencies' front, but let go moments later. As Chaos 2 and Killerhurtz left the CPZ, Dominator 2 rushed out to attack them, reaching Chaos 2 first, which in turn allowed Killerhurtz to drive at Chaos 2 and axe its flipper twice. For the rest of the battle, Spikasaurus remained stuck impaled Suicidal Tendencies, but Suicidal Tendencies went through after Chaos 2 broke down, having been repeatedly axed by Dominator 2 and Killerhurtz. In Round 2, Spikasaurus pushed back on Suicidal Tendencies. Killerhurtz axed Spikasaurus, whilst Dominator 2 attacked Killerhurtz, punching straight through its perspex armour. Spikasaurus tried to push back, and all three robots, still locked together, moved away from the nearby CPZ, with Suicidal Tendencies staying our of danger. Dominator 2 managed to free itself from Killerhurtz and axed Suicidal Tendencies. Meanwhile, Stinger appeared to have broken down on one side. Killerhurtz had driven into the CPZ and was attacked by Bash. Killerhurtz retaliated and axed the House Robot. Despite intervention from Matilda, Killerhurtz refused to let go of Sgt. Bash, who himself appeared to be immobilised, so Suicidal Tendencies pushed the house robot away. In the end, as Stinger was only mobile on one wheel, it was declared immobilised and as a result eliminated. Round 3 began rather tentatively, with Killerhurtz attacking Dominator 2. Eventually, Suicidal Tendencies managed to get into the action and lifted Killerhurtz up, but the axe wielder escaped to be attacked by Dominator 2, and Spikasaurus was able to puncture Suicidal Tendencies' left side. As Killerhurtz launched an attack on Dominator 2, Spikasaurus rammed Suicidal Tendencies into an arena wall before driving away and slamming it into another one, which knocked the tracked robot free. The four quickly converged together, with Killerhurtz and Dominator 2 still attacking each other. After some more driving around, Spikasaurus and Suicidal Tendencies managed to catch Killerhurtz and lift it up, but Dominator 2 was not able to land an axe blow. Killerhurtz was able to escape, but its axe appeared to be stuck in the "fired" position, allowing Spikasaurus to give chase and slam into it, before both side-slammed Dominator 2. This team-up didn't last long, as Spikasaurus quickly punctured Killerhurtz's shell, allowing Dominator 2 to turn on Killerhurtz once again. As the two forced Killerhurtz onto the flame pit, it was clear that Suicidal Tendencies had broken down on the far side of the arena. In the pits, it was revealed that Suicidal Tendencies had lost because one of its battery leads had broken off. Extreme 1 Suicidal Tendencies fought exclusively in the Tag Team Terror competition where its partner was The Steel Avenger. Their first round battle was against Napalm and Sir Chromalot. Suicidal Tendencies sat out the opening stages of the battle, as The Steel Avenger hacked into Napalm's frail bodywork with its axe, before pushing it to Suicidal Tendencies, who drove out and gripped and buckled both sides of the front of Napalm severely. Suicidal Tendencies quickly came out of its CPZ and rammed into the side of Napalm, crushing into its side with ease. It then launched another attack on the front, crumpling it even more, before tearing an entire side panel off. By now, Napalm was only moving on one side and Shunt also launched an attack. Suicidal Tendencies pulled Napalm onto its side. It fell back down, but with no proper mobility, it was unable to escape. Meanwhile, Sir Chromalot was sitting at the far end of the arena, seemingly with no power, which only allowed for The Steel Avenger and Sir Killalot to attack. Sir Killalot eventually plucked Napalm up and carried it to the other end of the arena before dropping it out. The Steel Avenger continued to pursue Sir Chromalot, who was still struggling to move. After being nudged by Suicidal Tendencies, Sir Chromalot lifted up The Steel Avenger, whereby it got stuck between the flipper and body. Suicidal Tendencies rammed The Steel Avenger free, but the two became briefly stuck together. However, Sir Chromalot's lack of mobility was becoming more evident, as Sir Killalot pressed the pit release button and, eventually, pushed it in. In the second round against Thermidor 2 and Cerberus, Suicidal Tendencies and Cerberus started the battle carefully, with neither having any damaging use of their gripping weapons. Thermidor 2 drove out but was pushed back into a corner by Suicidal Tendencies. The Steel Avenger had managed to immobilise Thermidor 2 by pushing it over the flame pit. Suicidal Tendencies gripped Cerberus and shoved it around the war zone into a wall, where The Steel Avenger and Cerberus engaged in combat near the pit, which had just been opened. The fight went to the judges since Cerberus was still mobile, but the decision went in favour of Suicidal Tendencies and The Steel Avenger to send them through to the final. The opponents standing between this pairing and the Tag Team Terror competition were Pussycat and Diotoir. Suicidal Tendencies started the final by pushing Pussycat on its side and gripping it with its crushing beak, but not causing much damage. After Pussycat escaped for the first time, the two bumped into each other, putting Pussycat onto its side again before righting itself over the flame pit. Suicidal Tendencies grappled with the base panel of Pussycat, however The Steel Avenger was toppled by Diotoir, who blocked it from self-righting for a while. The Steel Avenger did recover eventually to assist Suicidal Tendencies, but Pussycat escaped the grip of Suicidal Tendencies' crusher once more. Suicidal Tendencies pushed its teammate back onto its wheels after Diotoir had lifted over The Steel Avenger for the second time. Suicidal Tendencies spent yet more time fruitlessly holding onto Pussycat. The time expired and the judges had to decide the victors. Suicidal Tendencies and The Steel Avenger lost the decision, and missed out on the Tag Team Terror title. Suicidal Tendencies was also due to compete in one of the Mayhem qualifiers for one of the two Annihilators in the series, but it withdrew for unknown reasons. Series 5 Suicidal Tendencies was seeded twenty-first after reaching two Heat Finals in the past. In a rematch from Series 4, it came up against Rick, who had entered with Maverick in the previous series. Suicidal Tendencies pursued Rick from the beginning, pushing Rick across the arena floor while trying to get its lifter into play, but not succeeding. Rick's ineffective face spinner was doing no damage, and it began to spew a small amount of smoke. Rick was an appropriate size for Suicidal Tendencies to grab hold of, letting the seeded robot rip off a top panel with its vertical crusher. Suicidal Tendencies crushed into the armour where one of Rick's eyes was painted, before backing away. Rick drove onto the flame pit, which did it no favours as the time ticked down to a judges' decision. Suicidal Tendencies won the decision and progressed through to face returning robot Destruct-A-Bubble in the second round. However, it broke down before the fight and could not be fixed, which resulted in Rick being reinstated. Results |} |} |} Wins/Losses *Wins: 9 *Losses: 4 Series Record STtest99.jpg|The original Suicidal Tendencies being tested during construction ST3insides.jpg|The insides of the Series 3 version of Suicidal Tendencies STTeamS3.jpg|Team Suicide in Series 3 Suicidal Tendencies-S3 at a charity event.jpg|The Series 3 version of Suicidal Tendencies at a live event STs4insides.jpg|The insides of Suicidal Tendencies 2 STbattle.jpg|The second version of Suicidal Tendencies fighting the first version during testing St extreme in pits.png|Suicidal Tendencies in the pits during Extreme TeamSuicideSeries5.jpg|Team Thermonuclear Warfare in Series 5 ST6crusher.jpg|The crusher that was intended for the never-completed Series 6 version being tested St in 2002.png|Suicidal Tendencies in 2002 at an event Outside Robot Wars The original Suicidal Tendencies 2 won the Best Newcomer Award for BattleBots 1.0 alongside Alpha Raptor, despite losing its first battle to Gammatron. The scoop it used at BattleBots was a single faced design, whereas the one that was used in Robot Wars had a three faces design. A modified version of Suicidal Tendencies 2 was entered in BattleBots Season 2.0, beating Blunt Force Trauma, then losing to the eventual champion BioHazard on a judges' decision after being flipped and shunted around, before having its tracks cut apart by the arena Killsaws. Suicidal.jpg|Suicidal Tendencies 2 at the Debenham Robot Rumble ST vs Tornado 1.jpg|Against Tornado ST vs Tornado 2.jpg|Against Tornado ST vs Stinger.jpg|Against Stinger ST vs Dominator II.jpg|Against Dominator 2 Dominator II vs Suicidal Tendencies 2000.jpg|Against Dominator 2 Suicidal Tendencies, alongside Dundee, Panic Attack, Miss Struts and Eye of Newt, fought in a car-park rumble in November 1999 in Plymouth in aid for Children in Need. Suicidal Tendencies fought multiple battles and ended up winning most of them and eventually winning the event as a whole. Suicidal Tendencies 2 also competed at the Debenham Robot Rumble in November 2000http://www.teamtornado.co.uk/rumble2k.htm, where it collected a win in its first battle against its future Tag Team partner, The Steel Avenger, by lifting and pinning against the side of the arena to repeatedly axe it. A second victory came against Tornado, using the same strategy, before then defeating Stinger which was using a wheel in place of its mace. Suicidal Tendencies was eliminated from the competition by the eventual champion Dominator 2 after being repeatedly punched by the axe weapon. In 2004, the team started working on a new version of Suicidal Tendencies ahead of a presumed eighth series of Robot Wars''Private correspondence with Christopher Lobley, but after the show was cancelled, the robot was never finished. In 2016, the team also expressed interest in the reboot of ''Robot Wars when interviewed by the Derby Times, but again the team did not complete a robot in time for Series 8. Various parts of Suicidal Tendencies changed hands after the robot retired, most importantly the linear actuator powering the crusher of the Series 5 version of the machine. After initially being sold to various different owners including Ed Hoppitt and Matthew Pearman, the linear actuator would eventually be used by Coyote in Series 9 and 10 of Robot Wars. One of the hub caps from the Series 3 version of Suicidal Tendencies is also owned by Christopher Lobley. Appearances in Merchandise SuicidalTendenciesFrontDiagonal.jpg|Suicidal Tendencies Minibot Suicidal Tendencies RW- ED.jpg|In Extreme Destruction *Suicidal Tendencies/Minibot *Suicidal Tendencies/Robot Wars: Extreme Destruction (PC/Xbox) Trivia *Suicidal Tendencies is one of three robots to share its name with a hardcore band, the other two being Meshuggah and Rammstein. *Suicidal Tendencies is one of nine UK Series Competitors to appear in BattleBots, and one of the few with any success. *As the only robot to be seeded thirty-two, Suicidal Tendencies holds the distinction of being the lowest-seeded robot in Robot Wars history. *With the only exception being a forfeited position, Suicidal Tendencies always lost in the third round of every competition it competed in. *The Suicidal Tendencies team were close friends with the Pitbull team, having helped them build Pitbullhttp://web.archive.org/web/20011216171951/http://www.botting.demon.co.uk/Story/story.htm. The Pitbull team actually lent Team Suicide Pitbull to fight at Brighton Modelworld 2000, as they were unable to attendhttp://www.suicidaltendencies.co.uk/BrightonModelworl.htm. *Although Suicidal Tendencies failed to reach the Semi-finals, two team members fought in the Semi-finals with other robots: **Team member Charles Binns briefly joined Ivar Bundulis as Pitbull fought in the Semi-Finals of the Third Wars, due to Phil Botting being absent for filming. **Ed Hoppitt, who joined the team for Series 5, also entered his own robot, the very successful Storm 2. *Suicidal Tendencies was profiled in Robot Wars: The Ultimate Guide. *Suicidal Tendencies 2 was one of six robots to be a figurine for the Robot Wars Board Game, albeit with its BattleBots wedge. *Julia Reed frequently referred to Suicidal Tendencies as the "best tracked robot in Robot Wars", despite 101, Mortis and Plunderbird having greater success with this locomotion. *The second version of Suicidal Tendencies had the unique ability to climb stairs- by hoisting itself up the first step using its lifter and tracks, before driving up them. *Only one of Suicidal Tendencies' losses didn't require a judges' decision, this being the third round of the Fourth Wars Northern Annihilator. *Suicidal Tendencies was one of six robots to never win a heat in any of the series in which they were seeded (not counting robots who were only seeded once). The others were 101, Behemoth, Gemini, S.M.I.D.S.Y. and Team Hurtz. *Suicidal Tendencies is one of thirteen seeded robots (if its withdrawal in Series 5 and Terrorhurtz's disqualification in Series 7 are considered) to lose in the first round of a UK Championship. *Suicidal Tendencies was the only lowest placed seed to fight the top seed in a side competition rather than the UK Championship. References External Links *Suicidal Tendencies website (archived) *Andrew Jeffrey's YouTube channel - contains videos of Suicidal Tendencies Category:UK Series competitors Category:Series 4 Seeds Category:Series 5 Seeds Category:Robots from Derbyshire Category:Tracked Robots Category:Robots with Lifters Category:Robots with alternate versions Category:Robots with more Wins than Losses Category:Robots with Vertical Crushers Category:Robots Profiled in the Ultimate Guide Category:Robots that forfeited a place Category:Robots whose final appearance was a win Category:Robots with Spiked Axes/Picks Category:Robots with Drums Category:Robots with Lifting Scoops Category:Invertible Robots Category:UK robots that competed in BattleBots Category:Robots to appear in Battle Cards Pack 1 Category:Tag Team Competitors Category:UK Heat Finalists Category:Robots made into toys Category:Robots playable in video games Category:Robots with names from music Category:Side Competition Runners Up Category:Robots which debuted in Series 3 Category:Robots with cameo appearances in Extreme Warriors Season 1 Category:Articles in need of images